Just in Time For Christmas, Wright
by Blackwidina
Summary: Phoenix can't help but spoil Trucy most of the time. Will he be able to put his foot down, for once?


A/N: Um...*cough* Yeah, sorry about the wait. I actually wrote this for _last_ Christmas. As always, I don't own the Ace Attorney series, or it's characters. I'm just here to play.

**Just in Time For Christmas, Wright**

"No."

"But _Daddy_!"

"No!"

"But . . . Daddy, I know it seems like a lot, but I promise I'll take care of them."

"_No_, Truce."

"But think of the performances! Every great magician-"

"Trucy, keep arguing, and you're grounded. I said no, and I mean _no_. You already have mice, and a rabbit, and that mangy cat-"

"Bullets is _not_ mangy!"

"-and we hardly need to add _birds_ to the list. There's just not enough room. Now, that's _final_."

"But-!"

"_Trucy_." There was a world of threat in that tone, and the girl's eyes filled with tears as she stomped off to her room.

The second the door slammed shut, Phoenix let out a gusty sigh, and when the Gavinner's music started blaring at top volume, vibrating Zak's picture on the wall, Apollo finally gave in to the laughter that he'd been holding in. The sound was deafening to the point that Phoenix didn't even bother trying to speak, just gestured to the door. Apollo grabbed his coat, Nick wrote a short note to Trucy, saying that he was walking Apollo home for the night, and the two of them headed out.

Apollo was still snickering quietly as they shut the office door behind them, his breath steaming up the night air.

"Laugh it up, why don't you? You _know_ I have a hard time saying no to her," Phoenix groused, shivering a little. He pulled his beanie out of his hoodie pocket and slipped it on.

Apollo stopped for a moment to button up his coat against the wind. "You spoil her, you know that, right?"

"Hey, it's not often that I can. And to be honest, she spoils me, too."

"Very true. And she_ is_ a good kid."

They walked in comfortable silence for a while, hands eventually joining together. It was late, so there was little traffic in their section of the neighborhood, and Apollo felt himself relaxing after along day of paperwork.

"Well, now that we know what Trucy wants for Christmas, what do _you_ want, Polly?"

Apollo's eyebrows rose in surprise, and he felt his cheeks heat. "M-me? I don't need anything!"

He couldn't see it, but the eye-rolling was still fairly obvious, "Christmas isn't about what you _need_, Apollo." The tone was gently mocking, but when the younger man didn't answer, Phoenix sounded a little worried, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"It . . . always _has_ been, before," Apollo admitted quietly. "Christmas was always when the orphanage people would give us clothes and things for school. And I always got stuff that was donated—you know, those tree things at department stores? I always felt so dumb when the workers made us tell them what we wanted—I didn't want to seem greedy, so I just asked for sensible things like socks and a backpack, or whatever. And you know . . . every Christmas, I think every orphan wants to ask Santa for a family." To his horror, he felt a lump building in his throat.

The hand in his tightened, and he was pulled to a stop, "Apollo, I'm sorry, I-"

"No, no!" Apollo shook his head in denial of the apology. "I just—I just want you to realize that . . . that I've already got what I wanted." Uncaring if anyone saw, he moved to hug Phoenix, and was rewarded with two strong arms pulling him into a warm embrace. It proved a little too much, and he was appalled to find his eyes overflowing.

They stood there for almost a minute, while Apollo made a heroic effort to stop himself from crying. Finally, he got control of himself and stepped back, flashing the older man a weak smile. Phoenix gently brushed a hand over his head, "You okay?"

"Yeah. I really am. I've got you and Trucy. Uh, and M—Thalassa too, now, I guess. And I'm pretty sure Klavier and Ema are my friends, and now maybe Miles, too." He shrugged, "I mean, I can't imagine how things could get better than this, you know?" He couldn't quite fathom the look in Phoenix's eyes. "What?"

The other started, then tried to cover up with a smile, "Nothing."

"Liar," he smiled, not really worried.

"Nosey. C'mon, we need to get you home before your hair gel freezes."

"Very funny, Phoenix."

Phoenix turned the conversation to their latest client, and before long, they were wrapped up in speculation and plans for the following day. They had trials scheduled right up till the twenty-third, and then they'd have Christmas Eve and Christmas day off—unless, Phoenix joked, any of his friends got into trouble. And really, given the lineup of notorious names bound to be present at the local prosecutor's Christmas party, they could all only pray that nobody in L.A. died within five miles of anybody they knew.

Eventually, they made it to Apollo's place, and lingered outside the door, knowing that Phoenix needed to return, but reluctant to part for the day. Finally, Phoenix gave a wistful sigh before leaning down to give Apollo his goodnight kiss, which was returned with youthful enthusiasm.

When they pulled apart, both slightly short of breath, Apollo couldn't help but tease. "This is so stupid. It's not like I won't see you tomorrow, _all day long._ I mean, most couples don't get to see each other half of what we do. You'd think I'd be sick of you by the end of the day, not wishing I could shanghai you upstairs and return you in the morning."

Phoenix snickered, "Ah, the exuberance of youth."

"You're not old, just an idiot. A brilliant idiot, though."

"I object strenuously to that paradoxical description. It's a bastardization of the English language."

"'Paradoxical?' Edgeworth, what spiky hair you've grown! Now, what did you do with my boyfriend?"

"Bite me. It was on the Word-a-Day calendar."

Apollo grinned mischievously, "You're stalling."

". . . so are you."

"You need to go home."

Phoenix sighed. "Can I shanghai you instead?"

"Not till Christmas, remember?"

"Oh yeah. How's _that_ going?"

Apollo's nose wrinkled adorably. "It's going as well as could be expected. I'm sure they'll be ready by the big day."

"Thanks, Polly. I can't tell you what it means to me." Phoenix leaned forward again and treated Polly to a slow, drugging kiss. By the time he pulled back, Apollo was panting and half-hard and giving him _that_ _look_.

"Tell you what, Trucy's got a show tomorrow night, so you can stay over and tell me then," Apollo offered.

"It's a date." Phoenix waggled his eyebrows, just to make Apollo laugh, then gave him one last kiss on the cheek and finally made himself head back.

Apollo watched him go, feeling that odd little tugging at his heart to see Phoenix walk away, but he shrugged it off and went inside to his warm apartment. He'd been outside so long that he cringed a little at the initial blast of warm air, but he knew he'd acclimatize quickly.

He quickly shed his clothes, throwing on a T-shirt and some pajama pants and his fuzzy red socks against that phantom chill that always seemed to linger around floor level, and headed into his living room to face his greatest challenge.

The doves cooed at him from their cage.

He eyed them with mild annoyance, but grabbed a handful of feed so that he could get to training them. There was less than a couple of weeks left until Christmas, after all.

Phoenix Wright never really _could_ tell Trucy no. And now, neither could Apollo.


End file.
